Chapter 105 (Patreon)

Naruto stared at the fallen Deva Path, unable to speak for a moment.

Mihawk had defeated all Six Paths of Pain.

Even after mastering Sage Mode, Naruto had believed he had grown much stronger. But after watching Mihawk fight, he realized the gap between them was still far greater than he had imagined.

“Seriously... just how strong is he?”

Before Naruto could recover from his shock, Mihawk closed his eyes and spread his Observation Haki across the surrounding area.

A moment later, his eyes opened.

He had found the real body.

Boom!

Mihawk vanished from the battlefield at extreme speed.

Naruto finally snapped back to his senses.

“Wait! Mihawk!”

He quickly jumped into the trench and pulled one of the black chakra receivers from the Deva Path’s body.

Using Sage Mode, Naruto sensed the chakra flowing through it and located Nagato’s direction.

Without wasting another second, he followed after Mihawk.

Some time later, the two of them returned to the village.

No one knew what had happened after they found Nagato.

Only Naruto and Mihawk knew the full story.

Naruto looked quieter than before, and his expression was slightly downcast.

From time to time, he glanced at Mihawk with a complicated look in his eyes.

Back beneath Konoha’s towering outer wall, every shinobi Mihawk passed looked at him with respect and admiration.

Everyone who had witnessed the battle had seen him defeat the Six Paths of Pain.

Although he was still young, there was no doubt that Nerona Mihawk was the hero who had saved the village.

Heroes, much like geniuses, could never be judged by age alone.

In the shinobi world, strength commanded respect, and those who accomplished extraordinary feats eventually became legends.

The Legendary Sannin were the clearest example.

Mihawk’s achievement in protecting Konoha would undoubtedly be recorded in the village’s history.

Once the damaged areas were rebuilt and peace returned, his name would spread throughout the village. Men, women, and children alike would look up to him as one of Konoha’s greatest heroes.

In the original timeline, Naruto Uzumaki had followed a similar path.

He had first become the hero who saved Konoha, then the savior of the entire shinobi world, and eventually the Seventh Hokage.

This time, however, Mihawk had taken a portion of the glory that would originally have belonged to Naruto.

“Mihawk-kun!”

As Mihawk reached the foot of the wall, a familiar figure rushed down from above and threw herself into his arms.

Mihawk caught Hinata and smiled.

“Come on. Let’s go find Hanabi.”

“Mm!”

Hinata nodded eagerly and wrapped both hands around his arm as they headed toward Hokage Rock.

At that moment, the admiration she felt for Mihawk had reached an entirely new level.

Even with so many people watching them, she showed none of her usual shyness. Instead, her expression was filled with pride.

The hero she had always believed in had now truly become the hero of the entire village.

Mihawk naturally had no idea what she was thinking.

After walking for a short distance, the two used the Body Flicker Technique and quickly arrived at the evacuation shelter beneath Hokage Rock.

Using Observation Haki, Mihawk located Hanabi’s chakra among the many people inside.

The two of them entered the shelter and soon reached the room where she had been waiting.

“Mihawk-nii! Sister!”

The moment she saw them, Hanabi rushed forward with the storage scroll still strapped to her back.

Mihawk crouched down and caught her before lifting her with one arm. With his other hand, he gently rubbed her head.

Hinata smiled and removed the storage scroll from Hanabi’s back.

After briefly explaining the situation outside to the Chūnin guarding the shelter, Mihawk carried Hanabi as the three of them made their way outside.

When they descended from Hokage Rock, Hanabi stared at the damaged sections of the village below.

Several areas had been reduced to rubble, while others remained almost completely untouched. The Hyūga district was still standing, but Mihawk’s house had been unlucky enough to lie directly within one of the devastated areas.

“The village…”

Hanabi’s eyes widened as she took in the destruction.

Then her gaze shifted toward the place where their house had once stood.

“Our home is gone…”

Tears quickly gathered in her pale eyes.

Mihawk raised a hand and gently tapped her on the head.

“Come on, don’t say that. We can always rebuild the house.”

He smiled faintly.

“Besides, didn’t you want a new home that belonged to the three of us?”

“Eh?”

His words were just as effective on Hanabi as they would have been on Hinata.

The tears in Hanabi’s eyes immediately disappeared, replaced by surprise and growing excitement.

However, she soon remembered something important.

“Then where are we going to live until the new house is finished?”

Mihawk glanced at the storage scroll Hinata was holding.

“We’ll stay somewhere else in Konoha for the time being. Most of the Hyūga district is still intact, so finding another place won’t be difficult.”

He paused before continuing.

“Once the village begins rebuilding the damaged areas, we’ll hire the best designer we can find and have them build us a proper villa.”

“Mm!”

Hanabi nodded repeatedly, her eyes already filled with anticipation.

Even Hinata wore a faintly dreamy expression, as though she had already begun imagining what their new home would look like.

Still clinging to Mihawk’s neck, Hanabi asked, “Mihawk-nii, are we going to our temporary house now?”

“No.”

Mihawk shook his head.

“We’ll visit your father first.”

He then turned his gaze in the direction Naruto had gone.

“And there’s something I want to confirm.”

After a brief pause, he added, “We’ll head there in a few hours.”

Several days passed.

There was no need to worry too much about rebuilding the village.

Konoha served as the Land of Fire’s primary military force, so the daimyō naturally would not stand by and do nothing. On the contrary, he would provide substantial funding for Konoha’s restoration and compensate the village for its losses on behalf of the government.

For now, the shinobi of Konoha only needed to recover from the exhaustion of the battle, clear away the rubble, retrieve anything valuable that could still be salvaged, and then begin reconstruction.

In a world where ninjutsu existed, rebuilding a village was not particularly difficult.

As long as everyone worked together, the damaged areas could be restored within a month or two.

During this time, Mihawk, despite being regarded as one of the heroes who had saved Konoha, did not participate in the reconstruction.

Instead, he brought Hinata and Hanabi to a commercial district near the Hyūga clan compound and rented a small house for the three of them to use as a temporary residence.

Mihawk had little interest in involving himself with the village’s affairs.

To be honest, he did feel somewhat regretful that their home had been destroyed.

However, the main reason he had worried so much and remained in the village throughout the attack was Hanabi.

Had it not been for her, Mihawk might have simply accepted another mission and left the village, just as Kiba had.

Protecting Hinata and Hanabi while defeating the Six Paths of Pain was merely the responsibility he had chosen to shoulder as a shinobi of Konoha.

As for everything that came afterward, Mihawk had no intention of interfering.

Once the village began rebuilding the damaged districts, he would simply return and hire someone to construct a new home for himself and the Hyūga sisters.

On the roof of their temporary residence, Mihawk stood before a wooden log with his hand resting on the hilt of his katana.

Shing!

A silver-white flash swept through the air.

His blade descended in a single clean motion.

The wooden log in front of him immediately split into two perfectly smooth halves.

Mihawk calmly returned the katana to its sheath.

“Hanabi.”

“I’m coming!”

Hanabi, who had been waiting nearby, responded immediately.

She walked over carrying a bucket of adhesive paste, dipped a brush into it, and carefully spread a thick layer across the perfectly smooth surface of the severed wood.

She then aligned the two halves and pressed them firmly together.

After waiting for the paste to dry, Hanabi lifted the log by one end.

The other half immediately fell away.

The two pieces had not bonded at all.

Hanabi looked toward Mihawk, who was standing nearby with a thoughtful expression.

“Mihawk-nii, it doesn’t seem to be working.”

As for why Mihawk was conducting such a strange experiment—testing why something cut by his blade could no longer be glued back together—the answer was simple.

His second template had finally been unlocked.